Gym's Ramblings

Saturday, 3 November 2012

More from S'pore

The locals refer to this place as Spore. You see this in articles in the, "The Straits Times" which is the daily newspaper and you also see this abbreviation used on signs throughout the city. We are only going to be able to have scratched the surface here in Spore because we only had 2.5 days to explore the city. As always we needed more time.

Yesterday, Mrs. Gym and I went to the Gardens by the Bay which is a brand new attraction here in Singapore. It was just opened in June, 2012 and was within walking distance of the hotel. We were drawn here when we saw it from the Singapore Flyer the previous day. We spotted the conservatories and I said to Mrs. Gym, "We are going to go check those out tomorrow", and we did. Here are the conservatories again from the Flyer.

This is what we saw from the Flyer

As it turns out the conservatories are only a small part of a very large park. Here is a description of the park from a reliable source:

Gardens by the Bay is a park spanning 101 hectares (250 acres) of reclaimed land^[1] in central Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden.

Gardens by the Bay is an integral part of a strategy by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from a "Garden City" to a "City in a Garden". The stated aim is to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city.

We had to pay $25.20 each (with a Singapore Airlines discount) to enter the conservatories. It was worth the price of admission. Here is description of the conservatories from a reliable source:

The Flower Dome

The Flower Dome is the larger of the two, at 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres). It replicates cool dry conditions and will feature permanent displays of plants found in the Mediterranean and semi-arid tropical regions. A changing display field has also been incorporated to enable flower shows and displays to be held within the conservatory.

Bottle Tree in the Flower Dome

Ancient Olive Trees

Palm

Part of Thanksgiving Display

Some guy with a hat that looks like he bought it in Fujairah

Nice but they are fake chickens

Horn of Plenty

One of the Mrs. Gym's 100s of flower pictures

The second conservatory:

The Cloud Forest

The Cloud Forest is slightly smaller at 0.8 hectares (2.0 acres). It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical mountain regions between 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level. It features a "Cloud Mountain", accessible by an elevator, and visitors will be able to descend the mountain via a circular path where a 35-metre (115 ft) waterfall provides visitors with refreshing cool air.

When you walk in you are confronted with a giant man-made mountain which is covered in Tropical Rainforest and a giant waterfall

Looking up from the back is the "Walk in the Clouds"

Flowers grow all the way up the mountain

You take an elevator to the top of the mountain

another view of the summit

looking down to the front door

The Walk in the Clouds - don't look down!

on the mountainside

looking down to the walk at treetop level

waterfall viewing point halfway down

real stalagmites inside the mountain

looking up from the Walk in the Treetops to the Walk in the Clouds

Outside we toured the outer gardens a little bit but it was raining and we were hungry so we didn't get to fully explore the park but we did check out these manmade trees called the Supertrees. These trees not only look cool they provide a base for numerous vines, ferns and creeping plants that are growing up the steel forms. The Supertrees also provide an important function for the park acting as air intake and exhaust machines for the park's cooling system. These Supertrees are lit up at night and the whole park looks like something out of the movie Avatar.

After we got back to the hotel we went for lunch at the Long Bar. This is where the Singapore Sling was introduced to the world. This storied bar has made rated as one of the top ten bars in the world.

The Long Bar

The bartender mixing a sling

note the ceiling fans

O.K. Now I think I’ve told y'all that this is our second Southeast Asian Sojourn. We have experienced a wonderful city and have shown you some images to prove to you what a beautiful place that they have here in Spore. Now, what are Mr. and Mrs. Gym doing next? They don't travel 24 hours to only experience one modern civic marvel and why would Gym call it a Southeast Asian Sojourn if he was only visiting one country? No, we need to have more. We have to experience at least one other country before we head back to join the majority of our readers for some more of the Calgary winter. So, we are going to Bali this morning. Yes, I know, only 2.5 days and we are pulling the plug on Singapore? Don't worry, Bali will be fun and I promise to give you as full a coverage of Bali as you would expect. I will post my next blog from the Four Seasons at Sayan on the sacred Ayung River.

Friday, 2 November 2012

Singapore: Sci-fi Utopia or what?

Would Professor Ludwig Von Drake agree with me that Singapore is as close to his concept of a futuristic utopia as we have anywhere in the world today? I think he would. As I stood atop the Marina Bay Sands Hotel last night, I thought about the utopia that was portrayed in those old Wonderful World of Disney cartoons and I came to the conclusion that the only thing missing in Singapore was the flying cars. This city is really modern, unbelievably clean and uber cool!

There is nothing even close to the look of Singapore in North America. Dubai is close in appearance but behind the facade there is a totalitarian regime that continues to sweep a lot of stuff under the carpet. There may also be a city or two in China that looks the same as Singapore, but again, you have a totalitarian regime and more stuff under the carpet. Singapore is a modern democracy and it is an economic powerhouse in Southeast Asia. Today, I am officially bestowing upon Singapore, the Professor Ludwig Von Drake Utopia Award.

The Marina Bay area is beautiful at night. At dusk, we had drinks and tapas at the restaurant on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and watched as the cityscape came alive with the neon lights of the financial district framing the bay on which a multi-colored laser show danced across the water. The Tiger beer I consumed and the scenery were both intoxicating. A margarita and the oriental deep fried chicken calmed the nerves of Mrs. Gym who hadn't had forgotten to eat a snickers bar earlier that afternoon. Within 15 minutes, she too was smitten by the scene (Gym also has to come clean on his habit of not checking to see if Mrs. Gym is actually following him as he bobs and weaves through the matrix of unfamiliar territory). Sorry dear!

Anyways here are the pictures from last night:

The Flyer at dusk

Marina Bay Sands at dusk as we walk towards it with the Artscience Museum in the foreground

Another color

This is the inside of the Marina Bay Sands, it looks fake because I probably botched an enhancement but at least you can see what it looks like

Looking towards the Raffles over Marina Bay

Singapore Business District

Outdoor Patio/Lounge where we had tapas on the roof of the hotel

Artscience Museum

Walking home and taking one last shot of the Marina Bay Sands and the Artscience Museum

Pictures courtesy of Mrs. Gym; Enhancements by the author

Safe in Singapore

Well, we survived another marathon travel day and this morning we have definitely found our way out of the snows of the Great White North. It is currently 32 C in Singapore and very humid. Mrs. Gym and I were up early for a workout followed by a nice breakfast in the hotel cafe and have already hiked over to one of the local landmarks herein the city, to get a feel for the layout of this very clean and very beautiful, ultra-modern metropolis.

Our bodies tell us that it is 11 P.M. but they have to get used to the fact that over here on the other side of the world, a half-world away from where they are used to being, it is 14 hours later in the day. This means as I write this post, most of my readers are going to bed and I am sitting here tomorrow morning their time. How can this be? I have lost 14 hours of my life. Don't worry, I will get it back on the return trip.

So how was the trip? Well it was a gruelling three-legger with 2-hour stop-overs in Vancouver and Hong Kong. The first two legs were Air Canada and the last one was a new airline for us, Singapore Airlines. Generally, everything went well, our one checked bag went into the bowels of Calgary International Airport at 7 AM on Halloween Day and as if by magic, it emerged from the bowels of Singapore Changi Airport at 10 PM November 1, 2012 as if it had been beamed there by Scotty himself. Mrs. Gym and I showed quite a bit more wear than that suitcase when we arrived in Singapore last night after a 24 hour journey, door-to-door.

Before I go on, let me indulge you with a little bit about the airlines that we used. The first leg was routine and Vancouver Airport is now one of the nicest airports in Canada so nothing of note until we boarded AC007 from Vancouver to Hong Kong. This long leg of 12+ hours was notable because of the crew we had "looking after us". This was the oldest crew that I have ever flown with. As the flight progressed, I found myself taking note of where the defibrillator was stored near my seat because I thought I might have to use it on one of the flight crew before too long. Every single one of the AC crew was in his or her mid-sixties and a couple of them looked older that than that. What a change we experienced when we boarded Singapore Airlines flight No. SQ865 from Hong Kong to Singapore, as the average age of the stewardesses was 30-something and each was dressed in the Singapore Airlines service sarong which are very classy looking. The two sets of crews were as perfect a complete antithesis as you could ever imagine. In addition the Singapore crew moved in a blur compared to the Air Canada crew. In am not sure of this but I think the crew to passenger ratio is much higher on Singapore Airlines than most of its competition. Finally, on the subject of the epic journey by air, let me just say that Hong Kong International (Chek Lap Kok) Airport and Singapores Changi Airport are also two fine mega-airports. They are both massive yet clean, efficient and comfortable monster infrastructures.

We are currently staying in the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The singapore sling was invented here somewhere between 1910 and 1915. The Long Bar here has been named as one of the world's top-10 bars. And if that isn't enough Michael Jackson stayed here with an orangatan friend some years ago. The hotel opened in 1887 and now is 125 years old. We chose to stay in one of the oldest parts of this sprawling accommodation because of the deluxe rooms in that wing (see the pictures below). Our three-room suite has 15-foot ceilings and a beautiful all-marble bathroom with all the amenities. Why else did I pick this hotel? The answer lies in a previous blog post that deals with our last trip here. When we cruised by here in early 2011, we looked in the door of this hotel but were not allowed to go into the lobby because we were not guests of the hotel. This time, I strolled into the lobby and walked past the doorman like I belonged, because I did!

front-room/nook/gin and tonic room

bedroom

looking from the bedroom into the front room and to the front door, note the 15 foot ceilings

all marble and free toothbrushes

nice tub!

Our room is on the ground level

The lobby that Gym strolled into like he belonged

This morning after breakfast we went for a ride on the Singapore Flyer. It is about a mile form Raffles so we hoofed it over there and bought tickets for one revolution around this giant ferris wheel. It was a major photo opportunity and Mrs. Gym took full advantage of that fact. It was mostly clear this morning and there are some spectacular views for the top. The Flyer is currently the largest ferris wheel in the world standing 30m higher than the London Eye. While it is very similar to the London Eye in appearance it was a completely different in that there was no line-up at all. We did the London Eye last year and had to but fast-track tickets to get on quickly, but that was not necessary at the Flyer this morning. We bought our regularly-priced tickets and strolled right into one of the all-glass cars. Two thumbs up on this tourist experience.